It is known in the air valve art to provide pilot valves for operating four-way valves, three-way valves, two-way valves, and the like. A disadvantage of the pilot air valves is that their arrangement and construction requires considerable time to dismantle the valves for repair purposes when replacing a pilot valve element. A further disadvantage of the prior art pilot air valves is that they are complicated structurally and expensive to manufacture and repair. Examples of the prior art pilot valves are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,100,519, 4,271,868 and 4,298,027.